


Oh, dear! Why me?

by Yoyi



Category: Stargate Universe
Genre: Awkwardness, Because it's me who thinks it's funny, Destiny feeling bored and doing evil deeds..., F/M, Hinted relationship between Varro and Ginn, Holding Hands, Humor, I am playing the role of the Destiny, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Maybe more awkwardness, Though not really a pairing in this fic, more humor, or what her crew think is evil but that she finds extremely funny.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoyi/pseuds/Yoyi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's wake-up time and they wake up. </p>
<p>There's something weird going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fragged... Look!
> 
> Many thanks to my FABULANTASTIC BETA [Brainy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/BrainDamage/pseuds/BrainDamage) (I can hear her in the distance complaining about me calling her that, hihihi) for her work on this... thing. :D

 

#  Odd things

 

When he woke up he saw a very exhausted Eli, smiling viciously, looking at him from the other side of the glass. The door slid up and he could get out to find himself being stretched between the arms of the very exhausted Eli, still smiling viciously. It was at least awkward, so he didn't move a centimetre, just in case, feeling all his body tensing up. He was feeling tired too. In fact, he was feeling even more tired than how he felt before going into stasis.

 

“I did it! I'm alive! It's so great to be alive!”

 

For some reason, this made him relax into the embrace and smile. “Yes, you did it Mr. Wallace.”

 

“Aw! C'mon Rush! Don't talk to me like that! I mean, it's an honour to be called like that by you but I think I prefer if you keep calling me by my given name instead.”

 

“Yes, yes...” Rush said, not holding a small laugh. “Now, I think you can let me go.”

 

“Ah! Yes, I can.” After Eli released him, he ran towards Col. Young's stasis pod and opened it, grinning the same way he did when he was waiting for Rush to open his eyes. When the door slid up, he assaulted Young as well and repeated the same words. Young laughed happily and hugged back, patting him on the shoulder twice or so.

 

“Good work, Eli. You did a good job.”

 

By the time Young noticed Rush, he was already on the computer, running an analysis on the state of the ship, their current position regarding the star they would be using to re-fuel and looking for the best candidates to wake up first. Of course, those were already selected, but still he checked out and looked for possible causalities. None thus far.

 

Rush looked up from the screen when he sensed Young staring at him. He thought he saw something whiting Young's eyes, something familiar. But that feeling disappeared as fast as it appeared. That something... retreating into the depths of the man's eyes. Rush frowned, but only looked down again.

 

“Hey, TJ, good to see you!” Eli said, greeting one by one those who were waking up.

 

“So, did we make it?”

 

Rush didn't stop reading the screen or pushing buttons, but he answered, “More or less. We are six months and three weeks into the third year. Maybe they won't expect us to make contact now, but it would be advisable to give it a try after we have recharged. Also, it will take at least another week to reach the star, so it would be better if we don't wake up more people, to keep the waste of energy it at a minimum.”

 

“Yes,” Young nodded. “We still have all that dried food and the water tank should have enough water for us. We need to make shifts for the bridge. I could do with an actual sleep.”

 

Rush only nodded.

 

“TJ? Are you okay?”

 

They both looked at TJ and Eli. The young man had TJ's hands on his, and she looked pale for a moment.

 

“Yes. Don't worry.” She freed her hands and turned around, giving Young a small glance. If Rush hadn't been looking he would have missed it. There was something going on, something different than the usual almost discrete stares shared between the Colonel and his Lieutenant, as if there was another secret.

 

Suspicion grew in Rush. There was something going on and it had little to do with the past of those two. The same familiar expression on Young appeared and disappeared as soon as he and TJ's eyes connected. “Suspicious,” he mumbled to himself and went back to work. He could worry about it later. Maybe it had to do with the pods, but he shouldn't pry into it, not yet.

 

“Well, I think we all should go to have a check up,” said Camile, rubbing her eyes. “I also need to know when we will be contacting Earth, so I can prepare something to give to them.”

 

“Good idea, Camile. Though the last thing I want to do when we go to Earth is being debriefed or debriefing.”

 

Young and Camile left, discussing about the report they should write and other stuff related to the IOA and the SGC. TJ, on the other hand, stood where she was, looking cryptically between Rush and Eli.

 

“Are you sure you are okay, Lieutenant?” Rush dared to ask. He approached her and for a brief moment he had the same feeling of before. _Definitely something is off_ , he thought.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Lieutenant?”

 

“TJ?”

 

“Yes? What?”

 

Eli and Rush exchanged looks. They both were thinking the same. Eli mouthed it and Rush gave a short nod,

 

“I'm just a bit tired.”

 

Rush nodded. “Yes. These are not like going to sleep. We are kept exactly as we were when we went in, so if you were tired before, you'll be now.”

 

“Em... Maybe we should take this opportunity to try and rest?”

 

Rush shook his head. “No, Eli. Too much to do, too little personnel,” he said, and then motioned for the young mathematician to follow him. “We need to know more about the status of the ship. It seems it recharged already in a white dwarf to be able to wake us up, but the levels of energy are still too low.”

 

“So, to make a plan on how to save energy. No showers, then?”

 

“No, no showers. And maybe we shouldn't use the lights either. Some flashlights will suffice.”

 

“Okay, I'll go and look for Camile and the Colonel to tell them.”

 

“So, I suppose we can't use the infirmary,” TJ said.

 

“Not yet, Lieutenant. At least, we can't use any of its equipment, but if it is necessary, the beds and the medicines are there, and we need you to be prepared in case something happens.” Rush was looking down at the screen again. “Before we went into stasis I took some flashlights to this room. The batteries are in my pockets. I thought that maybe it wouldn't work with them, but it's worth the try.”

 

“What? Doc!! What if they got broken?”

 

“Don't worry Mr. Wallace.” Eli grimaced and Rush smirked. “I didn't take all the batteries, just some for the lights. Here, try it out. They should be fully charged.” Eli nodded and took them. “They should be behind those pods,” Rush added, and Eli went to retrieve the lanterns.

 

“That was quite intelligent,” TJ said, and Rush looked at her with a frown. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No..., no. It's just... Nothing. I must be tired.” Yes he had to be, because the way Lieutenant Johansen said that statement was quite differently of how she usually spoke. Something amiss again. He looked back again to the woman's eyes and saw it again. “Who are you?” he asked in a quiet voice.

 

TJ opened her mouth, expression bewildered, ready to answer or maybe just because she was surprised. Her face told him enough. _How did you know?_ Was the question in her eyes.

 

“Hey, guys! I found them and they work! Doc, that was amazing! I wouldn't have thought of that! Woah! Well, maybe I would, if I hadn’t been so full of work and worries about fixing the pod and wondering if I would survive long enough or if I should-..” Eli cut himself when he caught the worried expression on TJ's face. “What?”

 

“Fixing a stasis pod? Survival?” She looked over at Rush, then back to Eli. “What's going on?”

 

Rush let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. That was Tamara Johansen. “There was a little problem with one of the last three pods, but it's all right now. Eli will fill all of us in later. We have other worries now.” He took one of the flashlights from Eli's hands and handed it to TJ. “First, we need to find where the Colonel and Camile went, so we can turn off whatever lights they might have turned on and give them these. Then, we have to go to the Apple Core to run another diagnosis.”

 

“Yes, yes. To make a list of what kind of things we can use and what we can't. Uh... Doc... Did you just say “Apple Core” or did I hallucinate?”

 

Rush smirked, turned around and went out, being followed by the other two, without answering.

 

“Is it the wrong name?” TJ asked as they walked out. “I mean, we all use that as the name. Apple Core,” she clarified.

 

“No, well. It is and it's not. It's the Control Interface Room, but that's just a nick-name and-”

 

“Mr. Brody seems to not be so fond of that nick-name,” Rush said, cutting Eli mid sentence.

 

“Uh? You do that to annoy him?” Eli asked and TJ started to laugh.

 

Rush gave a half shrug. “It's a catchy name, I use it from time to time.”

 

They found Young and Camile in the mess hall talking over cups of what passed as coffee. On the way there, they had turned off the non-essential lights.

 

“Took you long enough,” Young said, smiling. “What are the lanterns for?”

 

“Saving power,” Eli said, giving each one. “Doc thinks that-”

 

“Mr. Wallace, why do you keep calling me “Doc”?” Rush cut with an affronted look. The other four laughed.

 

“It's catchy,” Eli said, smiling a bit devilish.

 

“Ron's names are catchy,” TJ said at the same time.

 

Young and Camile laughed a bit and Rush frowned deeply. “Yes, well. We have to keep the use of power to a minimum, so we won't be using the lights on the corridors, that's why the flashlights. Also, we won't be showering until we recharge and we should keep the doors either opened or closed, as they waste energy too.”

 

“It's just a tiny bit of power! Why can't we close our doors?” Eli protested.

 

“Eli, if we don't save as much energy as we can, we might not make it in one week. Do you know what it means?” Eli nodded. “Good. We better leave the doors to our quarters open and don't touch any other door unless it's a necessity. Of course, the door to the infirmary will be kept open.”

 

“Okay, something else?” Young asked, nodding at Rush's demanding.

 

“Yes, we won't be using any other computer than the one in the Control Interface Room. If we need to know something that will be the one we will go to. Only one computer. We could have two functioning, but better safe than sorry.”

 

“Seems legit. Well, take a refreshment and go to rest, we can start working after we have rested for a while.”

  
“What?”

 

“Nicholas, he is right. We are all worn out, we better take some rest before we start working, or we won't be able to do anything. I really could use a nap. Half an hour would be bliss, though I feel like I could sleep for years,” Camile said, looking at Rush, the last bit more to herself than to the man.

 

Rush looked at Camile for a long moment of silence, then nodded. “Okay, if it's short, I think we can do it.”

 

“Also, after we have rested, I want to check you all up, so I expect the four of you in the infirmary within the hour.”

 

“Okay. Then I'll go to edit my documentary-”

 

“No, Eli, Rush said we need to save power,” Young said while standing up.

 

“What? No, why? Colonel!”

 

Camile and TJ laughed a bit. “He is right Eli,” Camile said, smiling fondly at the young man. “C'mon, let’s get some sleep.”

 

They all went to their own quarters.

 

Rush opened the door to his and fringed at the thought of not being able to close it. Well, it wasn't as if there were going to be people entering in without asking for his permission. He stripped from his vest and green T-Shirt, unbuckled his belt and unlaced his shoes, sitting on the mattress with a tired sigh. This week was going to be hell. He hoped there wouldn’t be any complications, like a valve exploding or a shower of meteors straining the shield.

 

With his face hidden in his hands, elbows resting on the knees, he tried to think of a working line for the following days. He had his phone on the counter, but he doubted the battery still worked, so no alarms to set. What if he overslept? He couldn't go to sleep now with the risk of not waking up, he knew himself well enough to know he was tired enough to fall asleep soundly and not waking up for hours. The echo of steps made him look up. The sound was definitely of military boots, but the steps were too soft.

 

He saw the Colonel on his door, looking inside with an unsure look. The dim light of the FTL didn't help to make out what kind of expression Young was making, his face in shadows.

 

“Colonel Young?”

 

The man didn't answer, but kept staring at him. His shoulders were relaxed, and the way he moved when he stepped in—one, two steps—, was not how the man usually moved around.

 

“Who are you?” Rush stood up. There was something wrong, so wrong with this. It couldn't be someone from Earth, they agreed in not use the stones until they were fully recharged and all the crew was out of the pods. The lights of the FTL lightened up Young's face. Again, _that_ look in his eyes. Familiar. He looked a bit sad and anxious, very anxious. He looked down and held his hand up in a gesture way too familiar and no, it was not possible. This wasn't happening at all. It was not... “Mandy?”


	2. This is not happening to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to tell you all: OUT OF CHARACTER!!!! As always. xD
> 
> Sorry for the wait.

#  This is not happening to me

“Mandy?”

 

When Nicholas asked her, she looked up and then down again, at her hands, and nodded several times. How could she explain this to Nick? She didn't even know what was happening here. She only knew that she was in a closed space and then she opened her eyes—a stranger's eyes—and she was able to look at Nick, to hear his voice. And she suddenly realized that she was inside the body of Colonel Everett Young.

 

When she had looked at Tamara, she instantly knew that she wasn't the only one. There was someone else inside the woman, and she knew who. They recognised each other but didn't talk at all. What was there to talk about? They couldn't figure this out. Not yet. And Nick had said it himself, they shouldn't use any other computer than the one he had appointed out, and to use it to investigate into this would reveal that something was amiss. Of course they had to wait. But she... she couldn't wait. At least, she couldn't help it. It had been too long since the last time she saw him. She had had time to think things over and-

 

Her train of thoughts got cut off when she felt something warm around her. Something that was trembling too. It took her a while to understand what was happening. Nick was hugging her.

 

“How, how can this be possible?”

 

She couldn't talk. She couldn't  _breathe_ . It was too much for her, so she just cried. She was able to touch him again. To  _feel_ his skin. “I'm sorry Nicholas. I'm sorry,” she said, breathless.

 

“It's ok. It wasn't your fault. Don't worry, it's ok.”

 

Oh, bliss. His hands on her hair. “I missed you.”

 

“Me too.”

 

**

 

“Soo... What's going on?”

 

TJ looked up from where she had been frowning, talking with herself in an internal monologue. “Eli?”

 

“Yes, well... I mean. I saw _it_ too, you know? It's weird, so tell me. What's going on?”

 

“I don't...”

 

“Oh, c'mon! Don't give me that crap! I know something happened when you were into stasis.”

 

TJ looked down again, breathing in and out, slowly. “Okay, we can tell you. I suppose this didn’t have to be kept a secret for ever.”

 

“ _We_? What do you mean by that?”

 

“You know... Ginn... Ginn is inside me.”

 

Eli let out a strangled sound. “You are lying.” 

 

“No, Eli, Tamara is right.”

 

“Ginn?”

 

TJ smiled sweetly at him. No, not TJ, Ginn.

 

“How can that be?”

 

“We don't know. Amanda and I, I mean.”

 

“What? Dr. Perry is here too? Inside TJ?”

 

Ginn shook her head. “No, not with TJ. She... she decided not to be present to the person whose body she is using. I, on the other hand, talk ed it ov er with TJ.” 

 

“What? TJ and you can talk? I mean, when you were within Chloe..”

 

“This is different. Apparently, we can show ourselves to the... host, and share all the information we gather or we can retreat and be invisible, thus the host wouldn't know what happens when we take over.”

 

“Take over?”

 

“Yes. I don't know the extent to it, since I decided to show myself, but I think that the host will be put into a... kind of sleep while we are active. Regarding that, it would be like when we were inside Chloe.”

 

Eli had been coming closer and closer and now was sitting beside TJ, leaning in, eyes big with curiosity and hope and a handful of other emotions that could be seen in them. “It is really you...” he said, approaching a hand to TJ's face but not touching. “It is you... Ginn...” his eyes filled with tears and an immense smile appeared on his lips.

 

“Yes, it is me!” Ginn smiled, and it wasn't like any of TJ's smiles at all. It was all Ginn.

 

“Okay, kids, time to rest for a while. I will start with the check up shortly, so, Eli, go to sleep,” TJ intervened separating a bit from Eli with an awkward smile.

 

Eli moved back too, blushing. “Yeah, em... yes. You are right, TJ. Arr.. I'm going to... to take a nap.” He walked towards the door and looke d back before leaving. TJ was smiling at him, but it was not TJ, it was Ginn. She mouthed “I love you”, or so he thought, before he left.

 

**

 

He felt like a child. They were walking hand in hand towards Young's quarters, giggling non-stop. He couldn't hide his smile. Though it was a bit awkward to have Colonel Young's hands in his, but only looking at her eyes, he forgot all unpleasant feelings.

 

“So, what did you do these past years?”

 

“Oh! Well, we did nothing, really. I was trapped in a... box or something. I couldn't hear anything that happened outside. I was with Ginn all the time,” she said, giggling still. “And we fought,” she laughed. “For her, Eli's maths was more efficient than yours and for me, you had more interesting theories. We never reached an agreement.”

 

Rush couldn't help it and laughed too. “Well, I do admit that Mr. Wallace has a brilliant mind, though if I had to choose, yours is astonishing.” 

 

Mandy blushed slightly before continuing her stor y. “I don't really know how much time passed, but then, all the barriers were broken and  _Destiny_ herself materialized with Mr . Franklin, you know? And she told the three of us that she was going to try an experiment of some short. The next thing I remember is waking up in the colonel's body.”

 

“What?” Rush stopped on his tracks.

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“ _Destiny_ did it consciously?”

 

“Yes? Nick, what's wrong?” Rush was looking down, his eyes going from one point on the floor to another. She knew what that meant, he was thinking about something. And very fast. “Nick?”

 

“ _Destiny_ is the one who downloaded your minds into the host bodies. That's why she awoke us up before reaching the start. Because it wouldn't be compatible with a frozen mind,” Rush mumbled loud enough for Mandy to hear. Then, he looked up. “Mandy, where did Franklin go?”

 

“I... I don't know. It became blurry right after that. I didn't know that Ginn was here until I recognised her in Tamara's eyes. Maybe when we wake up the rest of the crew I will be able to tell... I'm not sure.”

 

“It's ok. We will have to investigate this matter after _Destiny_ has recharged. But I don't know when exactly. There's a lot to be done.”

 

“Ginn and I can help. We know some of _Destiny's_ algorithms by heart and we are familiar with her input and programs.”

 

Rush nodded. “But be careful. We don't want Colonel Young noticing anything weird before we tell him.”

 

Mandy nodded, too.  After they stood hugging for what seemed to be an eternal moment, they discussed the basics of what  had happened and they agreed on not telling Young until they could investigate more into the situation. They needed to know more, because they both knew Young would want answers to questions, and they still didn't have those. For example, why did  _Destiny_ choose Young and TJ as hosts for them? Where was Franklin? What else had the ship done while they had been sleeping?

 

Mandy checked t he time on Young's watch. “It's almost time for the check up,” she said, sighing slightly.

 

“Really?” Rush rubbed his face with his hands. “We should have taken a nap.”

 

Mandy laughed and asked with incredulity, “ _Together_ ?” Rush looked at her, and she smiled. “Seriously?”

 

“You know what I mean?”

 

“Yes, Nick. But... think about it. Waking up and instead of me, having Colonel Everett Young tangled with you under the covers of your bed.”

 

Rush shivered. “Urg!”

 

“Ha, ha, ha. Exactly.”

 

Rush laughed too. “Don't put strange images in my mind, Little Miss Brilliant.” They looked at each other for a while, still smiling. “Let's get going.”

 

“As you wish, Mr. Brilliant.”

 

**

 

Camile arrived at the infirmary finding Rush and Young standing close to each other and Eli almost plastere d to TJ. There was something different in the dynamic between them. Camile felt it was a good thing, so she ignored it and let TJ take her vitals and answered her questions. It wasn't until she was leaving when she noticed something different. She thought it was just a hallucination on her part, but she confirmed it with a quick glance. Rush and Young were holding hands. She almost laughed.

 

“Who would have thought...” she muttered to herself. “See you later, guys,” she said and went back to her quarters. Before going to stasis there had been a load of paperwork she had to catch on, so now, on this week, she was going to finish it all, or at least, try.

 

She also had to think about what she was going to do regarding Earth. There was a l ot of stuff in her head that she wanted to resolve before going back. When she reached her quarters she felt something weird going on inside her head. At first, she thought it would fade away, but when time passed by and she still had the same itching in her brain she decided to confirm it.

 

When she arrived at the Control Interface Room she found Eli working on the computer.

 

“Eli, TJ told me she needs you for something in the infirmary, can you go?” she lied. Eli looked up with a bright smile.

 

“Sure, thanks Camile.”

 

As soon as he was gone she approached the screen and started pushing buttons. “Well Dr. Franklin, tell me what's this all about.”

 

**

 

They were walking hand in hand towards the bridge when it happened for the first time. Mandy slowed down and called his name with a worried voice. Of course, this was something they both knew was bound to happen sooner or later. She was being pushed back to the corner of Colonel Young's mind. He looked at her with a reassuring smile. It probably didn’t work, because she was giggling at his poor intent, though that was ok, she was smiling. Then, she frowned and closed her eyes. When the eyes opened again she was gone. The frown was still in place.

 

“Are you ok, Colonel?” Rush asked. He was curious to know what Young could remember or if he was feeling somewhat different. The man was still frowning at Rush, which made him worry a bit. _A headache_ , he thought. “Colonel?”

 

Young yanked his hand away as he averted his eyes. Right. Rush had been so worried about Mandy and Young noticing something that he forgot he was still holding Young's hand in his, fingers entangled together. A modest blush installed on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. “Good, it seems you are back to normal, Colonel. Let's get going,” he said as non-chalantly as he could. “As I was telling you, there will be a few changes after we have recharged...”

 

Young followed him, but Rush could see that he was frowning at his hand, maybe wondering why were they holding hands. “Rush.”

 

He looked at the colonel, stopping. “Yes?”

 

“I can't remember anything that I've done since I went to sleep,” Young said in a quiet voice.

 

Rush felt like teasing. He knew he shouldn't, but the urge was extremely strong. “Then.. You are saying that you don't... You don't remember what happened in my... quarters? What you did?” Yeah, Young's body had hugged him. He couldn't hold himself for much longer, he was about to exp lode with laughte r ,  so he turned around, covering his mouth with a hand so Young couldn't see his smile, and ran away before the laughter escaped his throat.

 

But that wasn't what a bewildered Colonel Everett Young saw. What the poor colonel saw was a man running away at the edge of tears. Afte r longs minutes had passed,  he finally reacted. No. No, no, no... What Rush was suggesting that he did... What exactly did he do? “What the fuck!?”

 

**

 

SMACK!

 

TJ hit Rush lightly on the back of his head while Eli, Rush and her laughed uncontrollably. “You shouldn't have done that!”

 

“I know. But I couldn't help it! You should have seen his face,” Rush was saying while still laughing. He had told them about his little mischief and now they all were laughing at poor Colonel Young. Rush wondered since when he had been so good friends with these two, but he cast that thought away. Did that really matter? “Well, Mr. Wallace, let's go. We have a lot to do. Tamara,” he said. Eli followed him out of the infirmary.

 

Ginn and TJ started an internal debate on what they should  do, to tell the colonel or to keep quiet about it until they found a solution. After a while, Ginn decided to retire and left TJ alone. She was using the flashlight to re-arrange some of the stuff on the shelves when she heard footsteps.

 

“TJ? Are you here?”

 

“Yes! On here,” she answered. Young entered her field of vision holding his own flashlight, looking worried.“Are you okay?”

 

“Did I do something weird when I came to have my check up?” Both questions overlapped. Young had asked Camile if he had been in the infirmary for his check-up earlier, worried that he might have done something else he didn't remember.

 

“No. You acted pretty normal. Is something wrong?”

 

“I... can't remember what I did since I went to sleep earlier,” he admitted. “Not a single thing. It seems... I... I... I might have done something to Rush.”

 

“Sir...” TJ managed to hold a strangled laugh. She shouldn't be like this. She turned away so the colonel couldn't see her holding the laughter, though she felt her shoulders trembling. She busied herself rearranging some leaves to collect herself while she tried to reassure the despairing man at her back. “You don't need to concern yourself with that, Everett. It was nothing serious, and Dr. Rush was exaggerating. You can be sure he was just...” she cut herself. “Everett?” Young was gone. “Oh, God...”

 

**

 

Young felt like he was drowning. Even TJ acted strange. Did Rush confide her what happened? But, what exactly had happened? He saw her tremble, he heard her muffle a cry. What did he do? Was it that bad that TJ couldn't even look him into the eye? He was sure that she was just trying to comfort him and  maybe she would try to silence the case for him. No. This wasn't right. He had to do something about this.

 

He w ent in search for Eli. Because Eli might know too. He looked at his hand. He had to have  done something t hat had made Rush took his hand like that. But what? There was only one thing he could think of right now, and it was the least likely to have happened. Also, it seemed like TJ and Rush thought it was despicable he didn't remember it, and that it was a good thing what he had done and... Okay, he was completely lost about it.

 

He groaned. This wasn't funny. Not funny at all. He went to the Control Interface Room and found Eli there alone, which was perfect for him, anyway.

 

“Eli, can we talk?”

 

“Colonel! Yes, what's up?” he said looking up from the screen.

 

“Do you know what happened between Rush and I?” Young said, going directly to the matter.

 

Eli started laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is why I need a beta:  
> “Yes! On here,” she answered. Young entered her field of vision holding his own flashlight looking worried.  
> ( **BETA** : The flashlight looks worried. Ah. A comma might help) ( **ME** : HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry. XDDDD Hahahahahahahhaahahahahahaha).


	3. Beyond comprehension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes** : I am sorry? It took me longer than I thought and there will be yet another chapter! *Sigh* This was supposed to be a two chapters fic... Why does this sh*t keeps growing!? WHY!?  
> So... Enjoy.
> 
> MANY THANKS to my fabulantastic Beta Brainy, who managed to make this understandable with less mistakes (if there's any left, it's my entire fault xD)

#  Beyond comprehension

 

Young stood there, scoffing at him while Eli tried to stop the laughter. He almost fell down to the floor. Eli was considering if he should tell Young the truth or keep him in the shadows, though if he lo oked at it, Young looked scared in the shadows. Maybe adding some light to the matter.

 

“Colonel, Doc was just trying to mock you. Nothing happened...” and he let the “yet” float in the silence of the room. Rush was right, teasing Young was good. “I mean, you didn't do anything to worry about,” he finished. Young froze before him and Eli swallowed the laughter with some difficulties.

 

“So... something really did happen...”

 

Eli sighed, still amused. “Look. The best way to find out is going to Rush. He is taking a nap now. You can come back later, when it's his shift and ask him in person.” Though he doubted Rush would let go of this amusement before the other crew members woke up, this was the best way to shake Young off, continue working, and have a bit more of fun on his behalf.

 

“You are right. Besides, I still have a lot of work to finish on my own,” Young said, walking away.

 

“Er... Colonel?” Eli waited until Young was looking at him. “Don't get mad at him if he tells you.”

 

Young nodded and left. Eli shook his head. He couldn't believe the Colonel would fall for such a trick. “He will kill us when he discovers the truth,” Eli mumbled to himself with a satisfied smirk.

 

**

 

So. Nothing life changing happened then. But there had happened something, and none of the crew members who were awake wanted to tell him. The only way to grasp a bit of it was asking the other party involved, but could he really trust what Rush had to say? What if he lied? What if they all were lying and nothing happened? Maybe he was just sleepwalking  to Rush's quarters and stood there while Rush stared at him. Certainly, watching Eli laugh like that took off some of the heavy weight he had been feeling since Rush ran away. He co uldn't have done something horrible if Eli thought it was worth laughing so hard.

 

He sighed, still confused. The positive point was that it seemed like Rush was really mocking him, and maybe he overreacted when he saw TJ giving him the back. He thought she was shocked, crying. But if he took what he understood from his little chat with Eli and looked at his interaction with TJ on the same spectre, then, she was just trying to hide her laughter.

 

Young groaned, smacking his head on the nearest wall. Why was he always jumping to the worst conclusion? But Rush really had seemed distressed, right? Or... not? Maybe Rush was trying to hide his amusement from him?

 

“Oh, God! This is so... “ Ridiculous. He was starting to feel ashamed of himself. Rush was only goofing. He was just making a prank. Nothing else. Well... It was strange enough to find Rush on a good day, not to talk about Rush making a joke. Young groaned again. “I'm going to kill him,” he whispered to himself. He checked the hour. “After I take a nap. I feel so tired.”

 

True. He felt like he hadn’t slept all day. Work could wait, right? He hoped so. He really needed a nap.

 

**

 

TJ was sleeping on one of the Lounge's couches when Camile woke her up. Unintentionally, she guessed, as she saw the worried look on the woman's face.

 

“Camile, what can I do for you?” she asked, sitting up.

 

“Go back to sleep?” Camile answered with a smile. Both women chuckled. “I will come back later. It can wait.”

 

“No, no. Tell me now. If you go now I won't be able to fall asleep until I know what you were up to.”

 

“Well... It's about the pods... They... changed something...”

 

“Franklin?” TJ guessed while she stirred and yawned. “Yeah. Ginn told me. Welcome to the group.” Camile stood there with her mouth hanging open. TJ laughed. “I suppose Franklin told you something about _Destiny_ , Ginn and Mandy?”

 

“Yes, he did. He also told me _D_ _estiny_ gave him some instructions to perform before talking with any of you.”

 

TJ frowned, slightly worried. “What did-?”

 

“I don't know. He said there was nothing to be worried about, and that _Destiny_ assured him nothing bad would happen to any of us, nor to the other people on-board.”

 

“That doesn't sound reassuring at all, if you ask me,” TJ said while she stood up. “Let's go to gather Rush and Eli. We have to see what the ship wanted Franklin to do.”

 

Camile nodded. “It won't be anything bad, right?”

 

“I hope not.”

 

They walked out, flashlights in their hands, towards Rush's quarters.

 

**

 

Rush woke up from a strange dream. He still could grasp a bit of it. Something about finding vessels or bodies. Something that was hollow that needed to be filled with... knowledge? Maths? Something abstract, maybe. He blinked fully awake when insistent footsteps and his name called with worry, kept echoing in the silent corridor and his room.

 

“I'm awake, I'm awake,” he grumbled while sitting up. He didn't have time to arrive at the door, the t-shirt hanging on his hand, barefooted, yanking up his unbelted jeans -he realised he had lost more weight than what he thought when he forgot his belt once when his jeans slid down without trouble-, when the visitors appeared there. He saw a distressed TJ and a worried Camile on the other side of the open door.

 

“Whatever it is, it wasn't me,” he said even before knowing what were the women there for. 

 

TJ opened her mouth, not knowing too well how to answer that. Was it persecutory syndrome?

 

“It's about what _Destiny_ did with Mandy and Ginn and some tasks she gave to Franklin when she sent him to my mind,” Ca mile said, straight face.

 

“Oh. So that's where Mr. Franklin ended up... Interesting.”

 

“Doc, _Destiny_ told Franklin to do something with the computers in the Control Interface Room,” TJ said. Rush couldn't help to notice how she didn't call it “Apple Core Room” this time. He nodded.

 

“After you,” he said, motioning towards the corridor.

 

The women walked away, and he was about to follow them when he remembered his problem with his cloth ing –he let go  of his trousers and they almost fell down–, so he took a minute to retrieve his belt. He managed to put on the t-shirt without letting go of the waist of the jeans, while he was being updated about what Camile remembered when Franklin was messing with the computer.

 

When they arrived, they found Eli hunching over the screen, a deep frown of concentration on his face.

 

“Hi! I just discovered here there's something-”

 

“We know. Franklin did it. What did he do?”

 

Eli looked up to find three people instead of one. He was only expecting Rush, truth be told, so he got startled to see Camile and TJ there too. “Well... That there's a hole in the data bank. Some stuff is missing.”

 

Rush nodded. “Let me see.”

 

While Eli made space for him to work on it, Camile and TJ looked at each other, surprised. Rush asking nicely instead of pushing the younger man away? That was hard to believe. “We need kinos. We really need them,” whispered Camile. TJ nodded in acquiescence. They ought to record Rush acting like... well, nothing like he was before.

 

“Here. The data about the transfer from _Destiny's_ data bank to the pods is missing. Also, any algorithm that might help repeat it or anything that Mandy and Ginn did when they were inside the bank. She erased any trace of other minds being uploaded on her and there's no telling if we will be able to take them out of TJ, Camile or Young without using the chair now,” Rush started saying, still pushing buttons and typing. “Shite! The chair is completely blocked!” He exclaimed, looking up. “We can't use the chair for this either.”

 

“So, in case Ginn or Mandy start getting flashbacks of their death we won't be able to save either of them nor the hosts?” Eli asked with a highly pitched voice.

 

Rush looked at him. “It seems so. But we can override the blocking program when we recharge, and they had been well thus far. It's not likely for them to show symptoms now, though there's that possibility.”

 

Camile was frowning. “That means we will be losing four people.”

 

Rush was frowning too. “We need to get back that data. If we can get it back, we could use the pods in case the chair is still blocked. Camile, try to remember what Franklin saw or did.”

 

TJ wasn't frowning. And she found it quite amusing. Out of the four of them, she wasn't frowning. Ginn was laughing inside her mind. “It won't happen again.  _Destiny_ wouldn't have erased the data if the possibility of us dying in our hosts was over 0%,” Ginn said, using TJ's voice.

 

Something biped and a message popped up on the screen. Rush and Eli looked at it. “That's a planet.”

  
“Yes. It seems she will be stopping there after we recharge.”

 

“Was that Ginn?” Camile asked. It seemed like she was the only one who felt it strange.

  
“Yes. It is me,” TJ grinned. Then, she grinned widely. “I suppose these three hadn't updated you about Young and Mandy's condition, right?”

  
“Um. No.”

 

“Perfect. Let me tell you what you can't tell him,” she said with mischief on her eyes.

 

Rush smirked and Eli let out a little chuckle.

 

**

 

_Skin. Warm skin. Under him. Naked, warm skin. Not his. Also, not Emily's. Whose? He heard a chuckle. He kissed the skin under him. Shoulders. Warm. “Nicholas.” He caressed skin. The man beneath him chuckled, happily. He turned around and they kissed._

 

Young woke up, shivering. Because what, the, fuck! He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Jesus Christ!” he  said. He had just woken up from a dream in which he was  _kissing_ Rush's bare back... And he was pretty sure  _all his body was naked_ ... Underneath him. “Oh, God! What the hell had happened there?” Was he supposed to believe them now? He wasn't sure anymore if it had just been a dream. T he more awake he was, the  more detailed the “dream” became. He rubbed his face. “I need to talk with him.”

 

Though he didn't look for it. He was more afraid of Rush's reaction than... Well. He was afraid of Rush now. He stood up and went in search for the man. Most surely he would be at the Control Interface Room.

 

He saw a light in the far end of the corridor. Maybe he was (un)lucky and it was Rush. But no, he wasn't that (un)lucky. It was Camile. Young felt some weight lifting from him. She was good news. Even when she was bad news she was better news than Rush any time of the day. Which was a bit harsh on the man, but right now the only way he could think about Rush was in a negative way. He smiled.

 

“Camile.”

 

“Ah! Colonel,” she greeted back. “I was looking for you. We have proof that the pods did something to us. In fact, to me. I wanted to tell you first hand. Do not worry, it doesn't incapacitate me to do my work in any way.”

 

Young's smile froze on his face. What if he had been affected by the pods too? “That's...”

 

“Yes, I know. Also, I wanted to ask you, nicely, to not do anything strange to the civilians on-board,” she said it nonchalantly, but her face was straight and dead serious.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Oh. I think we both know what do I mean,” she answered and left him there.

 

Young had the urge to hide until everything was over. Though he had not the slightest idea when “everything” would be over, or even what was that “everything”.

 

“I'm so screwed,” he whispered, walking like a reo de muerte. He really didn't want to talk with Rush, at all. Not now. Not ever. Half way to the Control Interface Room, a wide smile appeared on his lips, his shoulders and back straightened and he started to walk as if he weighedless than a feather, giggling.

 

**

 

Rush expected someone to enter the Control Interface Room. He didn't expect Colonel Young hugging him enthusiastically. But he did kiss back when Mandy made their lips meet. She smiled inside the kiss. In fact, she was laughing a bit.

  
“Well, what has you in such good mood?” he asked, breaking the kiss and smiling at her.

 

“You wouldn't guess,” she teased.

 

Rush let out a small laugh and hugged her tight. “Why don't we try? Is it about the Colonel?” She smiled and nodded. “Oh! So it has to do with the situation he is in, right?” Mandy nodded again. “He remembered something.” Mandy shook her head.

 

“More like remember, he saw something,” she said, unable to hold it anymore. “I think he won't recover from this if you don't tell him.”

 

Rush chuckled again. She was adorable. “So, what did  he see? ”

 

This time, before answering, Mandy blushed and looked down. “Do you remember the simulation?”

 

Rush groaned and hid his face on Mandy's shoulder. “Don't tell me he saw  _us_ ,” he pleaded.

 

“Ok. I can hide it but...”

 

“What part?”

 

“Nothing much. Just... a little bit. Before we... Well...”

 

Mandy was now as red as a tomato, and that was adorable. God, he loved her. “Well, as long as he did n't see  anything else...”

 

“No. And I don't even know how he managed to see it. He was just sleeping. Maybe when he sleeps our consciousness mix?”

 

“Let's hope not,” Rush said.

 

**

 

When Young opened his eyes and discovered himself with his hands at both sides of Rush's body, the man pinned to the wall, and their faces maybe a bit too close he instantly knew that what he thought before was right. The pods did something to him. Rush looked at him, worried expression.

 

“Colonel? Are you okay?”

 

Young didn't answer, he just stood there, dumbfounded.  He was physically unable to move away.

 

“You look pale. Are you sure you are okay?” Rush was frowning. And acting as if they had been in a conversation before he “woke up”.

 

“What?”

 

“Colonel, you shouldn't push yourself too much. There's only a couple of days before we recharge and you will be able to rest... More or less. Please, don't exhaust yourself.”

 

This was weird.

 

“Did I do something?”

 

Rush's brow rose. His face saying it all, the unspoken question: “Are you a moron?”

 

“Yes? We were talking and suddenly you felt dizzy. Or so you said. And then you almost fell down. You kept repeating you were okay.”

 

Oh, c'mon! Rush was lying, even he could see that. But it was a comforting lie. Maybe he didn't do something too bad?... Unless they had sex and he didn't have any sort of idea why it could even happen. And, well, he knew that his right hand shouldn't still be over Rush's left hip. His hands were trembling.

 

“Do you need me to accompany you to the infirmary?” Rush offered.

 

_Oh! Yes, perfect. Let's go to a place not only with little to none light, and beds. That will be wonderful_ , Young thought, sarcastically. _I need to get a grip!_

 

“No, thank you. I can go on my own,” he said. And as he was walking away, everything went dark. Before he lost consciousness, he heard Rush's voice.

  
“Maybe we should walk him to the infirmary. It'll be best if he wakes up there.”

 

He had the faint feeling that he answered that, but couldn't quite grasp it.

 


	4. Stop non-stop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes** : Okay, I swear this is the last time I do this. This won't be the last chapter, because when I finished writing it, it was like twice the length, so I'll publish a fifth. Don't kill me! Also, many thanks to my beta for making this readable for you all. :D
> 
> And, something positive is that chapter 5 is written :D Yay!

 

#  Stop non-stop

 

“So, that's the star. In a couple of hours we will arrive at it,” Eli said, enthusiastically. He was sick of having to leave his door open and that he was forbidden to work on the documentary, so the sight of that gigantic ball of gas made him happy. Though he wasn't sure if you could call a star 'ball of gas'.

 

“Yes, if by 'a couple of hours' you mean half a day,” Ginn was beside him, her head over his shoulder. “I wonder what Varro will think when we tell him.”

 

Eli frowned. “Varro? Why him? What does he have to do with this?”

 

Ginn giggled. “Eli... He is Tamara's man, don't you remember?”

 

Oh, shit! Was he going to be forced to share Ginn? That was unfair. Though it was unfair for TJ too, but still... He felt like he had the right to act a bit selfish. Just a bit.

 

“Ah! I forgot to tell you, Eli,” she added, and Eli looked at her. “When we were working with Kiva, Varro and I were what you call 'an item'. Kiva thought that I needed a strong mate who would teach me how to be a soldier and to give me some experience in life, so, don't worry, I know how to manage him.” And she left.

 

Eli stood there, with his mouth hanging open wide. He couldn't believe... Did Ginn just said that... “With Varro!?” he added to his thoughts loudly.

 

**

 

TJ was in the infirmary when Rush and Mandy arrived. They told her what to tell the Colonel when he woke up and Rush went out to keep working on whatever he was working on before. Mandy lay down on a mattress and closed her eyes.

 

“So, I just need to calm him down, right?”

 

“Yes. I fear he might be sharing some of my memories and that is frightening, if you don't know what you are seeing is real or not.”

 

“Yes,” TJ agreed. “For now, try to sleep as well. I doubt he has rested since we woke up.”

 

 

**

 

After several times in which Mandy's advances were cut short by the Colonel's unexpected regaining consciousness, she was determined to at least once make out with Nicholas. She really wanted to be alone with him, even if she had to wear a man's body. She was aware of being selfish about this and that she was using the body of another person; a person who might not fare well with being with another person of the same sex in an intimate position, to be more precise. Mandy directed her footsteps towards where she thought Nicholas might be, and she found him. It was a small lounge, similar to the Observation Lounge, but more private. The science team used it to hold their meetings sometimes. In fact, it was used to hold most of the meetings as long as it was not about a crisis and they needed to hide it from the rest of the crew, in which case, Camile, Nick and the Colonel met in the Colonel's quarters. This, she knew from two sources: Nick and the Colonel himself.

 

She smiled at Nicholas when he looked up from his laptop and he smiled back.

 

“Mandy,” he said appreciatively.

 

Mutely, she took the laptop and put it on a table nearby before sitting over Nicholas' lap. “I missed you,” she said before kissing him.

 

“We met just a while ago,” he answered with an approving hum while circling her waists with his arms. “What brings you here so soon? Wasn't the Colonel in the infirmary?”

 

“Yes, but after he freaked out on TJ and she gave him a sedative I came in. And I am planning on taking full advantage of that.”

 

They kissed in the dim light of the lounge. She wasn't planning on doing more than this, but just by having him there, she was feeling kind of... She was turned on. And it was strange to have a cock between her legs instead of... but it didn't matter, because Nick's tongue was inside her mouth and she couldn't really think straight, so she was surprised when he stopped her. She hadn’t even noticed she had put him down on the couch, and she didn’t know why her hands were roaming  under his t-shirts.

 

“Mandy, Mandy... Wait! We can't... Not now... We... We promised not to do this until...”

 

Nick was really trying to stop her, but she was still kissing his neck, opening his fly. Where did his belt go?

 

“I can't stop, Nick! I want you! I love you! Please, just a bit more, just a bit...,” she pleaded. And he nodded. She hauled up his t-shirts, and took off Young's military jacket. She leaned over and kissed him again, her hands touching as much skin as they could. One slipped inside his underwear, wrapping Nick's cock in her fingers. She felt him shiver. She entangled her other hand with one of Nick's and kissed him.

 

Nicholas' free hand was playing on its own, and she liked it so very much, still remembering their time inside the simulation of the ship. Then, everything went wrong in pretty much only seconds. She couldn't warn him, she couldn't say anything. And it wasn't because they were kissing so deeply. She froze for a split second... And Young took over.

 

At first, he didn't know where he was, or what was going on, but the tongue inside his mouth felt amazing and there was a hand grazing over the skin of his chest, then travelling to the side. Slowly, he started noticing things: he had someone under his body, that person had a beard—which meant that he was male... Oh, God!—, he had that man's cock in his hand and he was stroking it. And that man seemed to like it, because he swallowed several deep moans coming from his throat. Oh, God! He... Young could feel his own dick, hard inside his pants, dripping. This... This was not... He jumped off the man under him.

 

“Rush!” he said, eyes widening with horror.

 

The man was flustered, chest rising rapidly as he  panted, lips red and gleaming with saliva, hair tangled. He was sprawled there, legs apart. He looked...  _Edible, sexy, obscene. Ready for-_

 

Young blushed and shook those thoughts out of his head.

 

“Wha-? Colonel?” Rush looked confused. As confused as Young felt.

 

“I... I'm so sorry,” he said before rearranging his clothes as best as he could and ran away.

 

“Oh, fuck!” Rush did the same with his own clothes and stood up. “Wait, Colonel! Let me explain this!” He ran after Young.

 

**

 

_Oh, shit!_ Mandy thought. She could feel the  Colonel's nervousness, his guilt.  _I have to tell him, but how?_ She wasn't sure on how to work around this 'problem' and solve it. She was the one who started it, so she was supposed to be the one to put an end to it, right? First, she had to tell everything to the Colonel, before he did something he would regret later.

 

“ _Colonel Young?_ ” Young's radio came to life. “ _Colon_ _el Young, answer please_ ,” Eli's voice said through his radio. Mandy decided to retreat for now, she needed to plan how to approach matters so Young wouldn't freak out, at least, not as he had freaked out right now.

 

“Young here. What is it, Eli?” he answered, feeling something weird within his head.

 

“ _We are about to recharge, after that we can start waking up the rest of the crew_ ,” Eli said.

 

“Got that. Thanks Eli, Young out.” Young didn't feel like meeting with the rest after what had happened. He had attacked Rush. There was no other explanation. He had attacked Rush before, too. There was something wrong with his head, maybe a side effect to the pods, and he needed time to think. He wasn't ready to face anyone. He needed... He needed to apologise to Rush and... He didn't know what to do. How do you apologise for something like... like... _that_? It was horrendous. And he couldn't quite shake off the feeling of Rush's lips out of his head. It hadn’t been unpleasant. He had liked it.

 

“No!” he said out loud, shaking his head. This wasn't right. He heard footsteps behind him. Fearing it might be TJ or Camile or worse, Rush, he turned off his flashlight and retreated to the wall, even closed his eyes. But he was foundpretty quickly.

 

“Colonel, we need to talk about what happened before,” Rush said. Young refused to acknowledge Rush, keeping his eyes closed and wishing he could melt into the bulkhead. He heard Rush sighing pretty loud, annoyed. “Colonel, don't be like that. Come, we need to talk and you need to know something about the pods... There was... a situation... _Destiny_ -”

 

At the mention of the ship, Young opened his eyes and looked at Rush, alarmed, cutting him off, “ _Destiny_ ? What did the ship do now?”

 

Rush, content enough with Young opening his eyes and finally talking to him, didn't comment on the way he was cut off. “Yes. And I think we need to talk about it before you get the wrong conclusion, again. Come, let's meet with the others.”

 

For a split second, Young thought about running away, and in the next half of the second, about hitting Rush for not telling him right away about this condition, or whatever.

 

“Wait,” he said, walking behind the other man. “Do you mean that Camile, TJ and Eli know about what _Destiny_ did?”

 

“Why? Yes, of course.”

 

“... Why am I the last one being told?”

 

Rush repressed a laugh, or so Young though. “It would have been better if you had never known. Believe me, as soon as you know everything, you will wish you knew nothing.”

 

Young followed the man, not really noticing how his hips swayed when he walked, nor how his hair floated behind him, or the shape of his shoulders. No, Young bit his bottom lip and didn't notice it. He told himself that he didn't. And, of course, he refused to admit, even to himself, that he had liked so very much how he 'woke up' with Rush's kissing him. Oh! Of course not. Still, he licked his lips.

 

**

 

Young had kept quiet all a long, listening to them talking on, and on about how  _Destiny_ left a message that she needed more space in her data bank — Eli pointed out that it was nearly impossible that three human consciousness would take such amount of space on  _Destiny's_ data bank since, based on his calculations,  _Destiny_ could hold nearly two billion of human consciousness, million up, million down —and thus, she downloaded the three consciousness inside three fitting bodies. They also told him that there was a small miscalculation with the brain waves—or maybe Destiny did it on purpose, they couldn't tell—and that two of the subjects ended up in the wrong bodies. They also told him that it  wasn't life threatening and that he could relax because it wouldn't damage his brain in any way. Though Young doubted the last part since he already had had some  _issues_ with his guest.

 

After explaining the process of downloading, that had almost taken the three years they had been in stasis, which provided more questions than answers—as Rush said, if  _Destiny_ needed to shut down completely, from where did she take the energy to do that long process?—, they began to tell Young who was in which body. TJ started, presenting herself and Ginn, almost cheerfully, with a mischievous grin he had never seen on TJ's face before. Then Camile stepped forward and said that she and Franklin were one and that the man was sharing with her a fairly high amount of information about  _Destiny_ , her systems, programs and other things that would be useful in the future. And then...

 

Then the truth hit Young as he realised who was inside his head. His face paled, though in the dim light he doubted anyone noticed, his eyes widened and he looked at Rush, then at Camile, then at Rush, then at Eli, then at TJ, and finally at Rush. He could feel the rush of blood coming to his cheeks now. He didn't realize when his hands balled into fists. He also didn't notice that he had stepped towards Rush, nor that his face showed murderous intents.

 

“Hey! I didn't do anything!” Rush said, rising his hands in a non-threatening way, while stepping backwards.

 

“Sir, he is right. He was inside the pods. He didn't-”

 

“You all...” Young murmured, looking around him again, at their faces. “You all knew... And you all... You made me think...” Young took a long deep breath, relaxed his muscles. “I am going to my quarters to think about this. I don't want any of you coming there, looking for me, unless we are in danger or I'm required for whatever reason. DON'T come looking for me,” Young chortled out, not really knowing what he was saying; he hoped he didn't say anything strange. He might have said something strange, because the faces of the others told him he was not making sense. Ok, time to retreat.

 

He turned around and walked out the Control Interface Room.

 

“Phew, that went on better than what we thought,” Eli said, though he didn't sound too convinced.

 

**

 

_Destiny_ grinned. Or, at least, she knew that if she had a body she would be grinning. Things weren't going out accordingly to plan, but close enough. After having three humans inside her, she knew now more about them. She knew they weren't the people who made her, but they were somewhat their children, so  _Destin_ _y_ was ready now to take care of them. If only that scientist hadn't shut her out. But, well, she didn't really make a mistake when choosing where to put those humans. The woman she put inside the man's body was friendly with the scientist, so it was the perfect move to do, so the Captain would accept the scientist better. And as she could see, they were on better terms now. They also held hands while walking, or kissed. It was a good outcome. She was pleased with herself.

 

After she recharged, she would reveal the humans where she was going. Maybe she was cut off from talking with the humans, but that didn't mean she couldn't  _talk_ with her sisters, which the humans called 'seed ships'. One of them had told her where to find containers for human consciousness. Though those weren't prepared exactly for humans, but she,  _Destiny_ , was fairly sure she could program them to work with them.

 

She grinned again. Things weren't going accordingly to plan, but she was pleased with the outcome. Soon enough, three more humans with their own body would be on-board.

 

**

 

“Colonel?”

 

“Go away, Rush.”

 

Young wasn't in the mood. After he had arrived at his quarters, Mandy had stepped out and talked with him. She told him about what had happened and that it wasn't his fault. Also, she reassured him by telling him that what he had dreamt wasn't something that had really happened. She told him it was a fragment of her own memory, something that happened when Rush was sitting on the chair, in the simulation. It was a lot to take, and he really didn't want to talk with anyone right now.

  
“I just came to tell you that we decided not to tell the rest of the crew about... This.”

 

Young, who had been lying on his bed, with his back to the door, rose his head to look at the man who stood inside his door. He couldn't see  his face. Not yet. Then, the lights turned on and the door closed behind Rush. Both men got startled.

 

Rush turned around and pushed the button to open the door, but it didn't open. Young stood up.

 

“What's going on?”

  
“ _Destiny_ just recharged, it seems. And we are locked in here,” Rush said bitterly.

 

“What?”

 

“ _Doctor Rush!! It's Eli!! You won't believe this!!_ ”

 

Rush sighed before taking his radio to answer. “What is it, Eli?” he said with infinite patience.

 

“ _The planet! Do you remember the planet?_ Destiny _will arrive there in two more days, but the awesome thing is that there's a se_ _ed ship on that pl_ _aned and_ _—_ _drumroll_ _—there's data saying that there's something like our chair in there!_ ”

 

Rush waited for more information to come. When Eli didn't elaborate, he asked, “So?”

 

“ _That there's a possibility that there will be a way to take Ginn and the rest out!_ ”

 

Before Eli cut the communication on his end, Young and Rush could hear a 'Yay!' from the other side. Rush couldn't help to smile, looking at Young, who smiled in response.

 

Rush frowned. He remembered now the weird d ream. It hadn’t been a drea m. It must have been  _Destiny_ telling him. Containers! For Ginn, Franklin and Mandy! But, how did  _Destiny_ manage to override his blocking program? He would look into it later.

 

“Eli, look into the data you received. Can you see if there's any reference to containers in it?” Rush waited for an answer holding his breath.

 

“ _Yeah, yes. Why?_ ” Eli said, but before Rush had time to press the button of his radio Eli answered himself. “ _Oh, my, GOD! Don't tell me those_ _are actual_ bodies _! For real? Oh, God!! This is too good to be real._ ” Apparently, Eli had put two and two together and had arrived at the same conclusion as he had.

 

Rush let out the breath he was holding in the form of a laugh. He couldn't help looking at Young, who was laughing too.

 

And Young couldn't help appreciate the crest that formed on Rush's eyes when he smiled happily, or how good he looked with a real smile on his lips instead the ironical one he always wore. This made him stop laughing, suddenly. And Rush noticed, stopping laughing, too, and frowning.

 

“What's wrong, Colonel?”

 

It was a bad,  _bad_ ,  _ **bad** _ idea. But it was hardly the wor st he had ever had, rig ht? Without warning, he cupped Rush's face in his hands and kissed him. At first, it was just a light touch of lips, warm and comfortable, but then, Rush parted his lips—most surely to complain—and he naturally mimic ked him. In matter of seconds he was pinning the man to the nearest wall, still holding his face, kissing him with all his might. It didn't register at first, but he began to realise that Rush was not pushing him away, that he was kissing back. The longer he kissed Rush, the more heated the kiss bec ame. Young couldn't deny that he was enjoying it but why was Rush kissing him back?

 

Instead of separating his mouth from Rush's to ask, he did it s o he could ravish at the man's neck. That made Rush emit a low groan that he felt on his lips. Hi s hands were on the man's waists now, hauling the T-Shirts out of the trousers so they could trav el inside. As expected, Rush's skin was warm and soft and he knew he wanted more.

 

“Colonel... wait, wait!” Rush said, pushing him aside, though not putting much strength into it.

 

“What?” Young asked, voice rough. Both men stood there in silence, breathing heavily. And Young started to think clearer now. And remembering. They were in his quarters. Actually, they were _trapped_ in his quarters. Feeling the heat creeping up from his neck to his cheeks, Young stepped back several times. “What?” He asked again, this time, calmer.

 

“We need to start waking up people. And I have to go with Eli.”

 

Young nodded, still with his eyes fixated on Rush's form.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “And... no one has to know about this.”

 

Rush nodded—presumably thinking about Ginn, Mandy and Franklin's situation more than about what had just happened—and turned towards the door. He started playing with the buttons until the door slid open, and then, he was gone. Young followed his very movement until the door closed. W hen the man was gone, Young sat on his bed, then let himself fall on the mattress, groaning, covering his face with his hands.

 

“That wasn't a smart move,” he talked to himself, thinking about what could have possibly possessed him to kiss Rush. Then, he groaned again, feeling embarrassed. He felt really dumb.

 


	5. A bored Destiny meddling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes** : Last chapter, yay! :) I hope you, my readers, enjoyed this 'til the end. My beta says this fic lacked sex, though.

#  A bored _Destiny_ meddling

 

Even when he arrived at the Bridge and started working, even when his mind was focused on the incoming data,  even when more crew members started to roam around in the ship, Rush could still feel Young's lips on his. It wasn't that they were unfamiliar, he had kissed Mandy more than once and he never felt anything wrong with it. There was a nagging sensation at the back of his mind. It hadn’t been Mandy this time. And he had kissed back as if it had been nothing. Why?

 

A shiver ran through him when he remembered Young's piercing gaze at the back of his neck. The man never averted his eyes when they separated. Not that that was the first time Young had looked at him as if he was trying to decipher something, but this time... It felt different. It felt good. He shook off the weirdness of the moment and tried to focus on his work once again.

 

They had recharged to the full capacity that  _Destiny_ could manage now, which was still below 60%, but it was more than when they first recharged, so he was content with that. There were also minor issues like the life support failing in some unexplored areas—maybe because there were hull breaches that they didn't know were there, he would send a team to that zone later—or that one of the water tanks was completely frozen.

 

They would arrive at the planet in four days more, it seemed. Rush sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He was feeling tired. He ran another diagnosis on the ship and the data from the planet, to double check, leaning back against the back of the chair, waiting for the results.

 

Camile and TJ had told him that they didn't mind trying the chairs to get Franklin and Ginn out and into their own bodies, but Colonel Young didn't say a world. In fact, since he had left Young's quarters after they had kissed, he hadn't talked with the man. He wanted Mandy out, but if Young refused, there was nothing they could do. Maybe he could convince the man to sit on that chair if... What? They had no way of knowing how it was calibrated. Rush frowned.

 

“...taking them on-board,” he thought out loud. Yes. If they took those bodies—containers—on-board they could upload Franklin, Ginn and Mandy's minds in _Destiny_ to- “No!” He cut his line of thought. True, the chair was locked up, and _Destiny_ didn't seem to be eager to let him in. Anyway, they could use _Destiny's_ own data-base about the chair to calibrate the planet's chair so it wouldn't be dangerous for the m to sit on it. They would also need to run some programs on the planet's chair's computer to see what kind of settings it did have, and if it was similar to _Destiny's_ own chair or, what he feared, that it was a previous design. If it was previous to _Destiny's_ chair, then, they would need to do more than just few adjustments. Maybe they couldn't use it at all. He hoped n ot. He hoped they could use it.

 

The beep from the screen in front of him took him out of his thoughts. Rush leaned in and looked at what the data said. Yes. They would arrive in four days from now. Four days. Also, the planet seemed good enough to replenish some of their food. According to the data, there might be animals that they could hunt for meat, and they could collect fruits and seeds. Hopefully, more there were plants that they could use as medicine.

 

He was feeling impatient already. He wanted to be there, now. He wanted to see the containers. He wanted to hug the real Mandy again, he wanted...

 

“ _Dr. Rush? Doc? Can you come to the infirmary?_ ” Eli's voice came from his radio.

 

“On my way,” he answered.

 

Eli sounded worried, and he didn't want to know what wo rried him. The worst possibilities were dancing in his head.

 

“Please, _please_ , Mandy, be ok!”

 

**

 

Camile, TJ and even Young were lying down on beds. Lt. Scott, Sergeant Greer and Eli, as well as Varro and Lt. James, were there. Varro and James were checking their vitals, while the other three waited. Rush frowned.

  
“What's wrong?”

 

“A while ago, Camile came to the infirmary saying she had a headache, then TJ complained about it and sent us to go for Colonel Young and take him here,” Scott explained. “Then, they fainted. Eli called you after we put them on the beds.” The man looked concerned while explaining it all.

 

Rush nodded and looked at Eli. Eli's face told him everything. This was caused by two minds coexisting inside one body. Of course, this could happen, it was just that they wished it wouldn't. Out of them, only Eli and Rush knew about the three patients' situation, and they had agreed not to tell anyone.

 

“So, we wait now. Until they wake up,” Rush said, looking at Varro and James.

 

“Yes. They seem to be fine. I can't find anything wrong with them,” James said while pushing buttons on a console.

 

Varro was looking at him, straight in the eye. “I think I'm going to stretch my legs,” he said. The implied message to him and Eli made Rush nod.

 

“Let me accompany you,” he said, turning around and walking away. Varro followed him. They were almost at the turn of a corner when they heard Eli's footsteps.

 

“Hey! Wait for me!”

 

Rush didn't wait. Eli could run. In fact, Eli caught up at them. Rush entered a storage room near the Mess Hall and waited for the other two to get in before closing the door.

 

“Since when do you know, Mr. Varro?” Rush asked, as soon as the door was closed.

 

Varro smiled. “When Tamara was examining me I saw her do something that another person I know does.”

 

“So you knew something was wrong then,” Rush said, nodding.

 

“Yes. She told me bits. I knew if it was possible, it had to be Ginn.”

 

Eli frowned. “You know Ginn and I are going out, don't you?” he said, being defensive.

 

Varro laughed and Rush's brows rose.

 

“Yes, I know,” Varro said, good-naturedly.

 

“Well, now to what matters. Do you know what happened?”

 

Varro looked at Rush. “I'm afraid not. It could be a normal reaction for what we know, but there's no way of knowing it.”

 

“Okay,” Rush nodded. “Not one word of this to the others yet.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Rush had a feeling that these were not good news.

 

**

 

“So... they are fading...” Eli said.

 

TJ, Camile and Rush were with him in the infirma ry. Young had to be in his quarters, Varro, Greer and Volker were on the Bridge and James, Scott and Lisa were in th e small garden, preparing everything for when they had new seeds.

 

“It seems so,” Camile said. “Franklin... Franklin said that he felt less connected... As if he was... floating out.”

 

Rush left them alone.

 

He didn't want to see them. He didn't want to see anyone. Well... that was a lie. He wanted to see someone. He wanted to see Mandy, bu t he didn't know if the Colonel, now that he was aware of his host, was putting any restrain to her so she wouldn't take over. And he didn't know if the Colonel would allow him go near Mandy—or his body—without a chaperone. Since he wasn't in the mood, and it didn't seem like any crisis would start in the next few seconds, Rush decided to go to his quarte rs and catch some sleep.

 

He froze. The door opened showing him that his quarters were already occupied.

 

“Colonel?”

 

Young looked up. He was sitting on Rush's bed, bent over, arms resting on his knees. His eyes were red, swollen.

 

“Mandy!” Rush closed the door and ran towards her. She stood up and they shared a tight hug. “Are you okay?” he asked, even when he knew she wasn't okay, not letting go.

 

Mandy shivered and hugged him tightly, sobbing on his shoulder. “T his time it is for real. I'm so scared!”

 

“Shh! I'm here, I'm here for you,” he whispered.

 

They stood there for long minutes, Mandy sobbing on his shoulder, while he held her, trying not to cry himself.  _Too good to be real_ , he thought, bitterly.

 

“Nicholas...”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I love you.”

 

Rush felt his heartbeat on his ribcage. “I know...” he said. “Me too,” he added.

 

“Nicholas?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I think Young likes you, too.”

 

That... Was unexpected. “What?” Rush didn't know if he should laugh. He was bemused, though.

 

“It was unintentional. I didn't mean to peek into his mind but... When he fell unconscious, our minds merged for a split second and I saw it. He actually likes you, though he is annoyed by you most of the time.”

 

Rush chuckled. “That I can believe.”

 

“Truth be told, you are impossible at times.”

 

Rush managed to hold b ack a startled jump. He se parated from the other and stepped back. “Colonel?”

 

Young had a weird smile on his lips. “Hi.”

 

Rush narrowed his eyes, then looked at the ma n in front of him. “So, now you two are on good terms?”

 

“More or less. Now that the Colonel is aware of my presence we can switch and talk as if we were... two,” Mandy explained. “Exactly as with Tamara and Camile.”

 

Rush nodded, feeling awkward. He hugged Young... God, that was embarrassing! But then again, waking up to discover you were making out with another man was way more embarrassing. He smiled apologetically at Young.

 

“I wanted you to apologise to me,” Young said, breaking the silence. “I also wanted to punch you in the face.” Young looked away, chuckling.

 

“So... Do you like me, then?”

 

Young looked at him, surprised, and Rush's eyes widened when Young blushed. “That's... a way of saying it...”

 

“Oh...”

 

**

 

As days passed by, Franklin,  Ginn and Mandy started to fade more and more. It was a race to see if they would arrive at the planet on time to save them. They were still holding on, and TJ, Camile and Young tried to encourage them to not give up.

 

Young, Mandy and Rush were in Rush' s quarters, playing a game of chess—well, more like Young and Mandy had teamed up against Rush and were constantly trying to distract him—when Young went completely quiet. He bit his lower lip and looked at Rush.

 

“She... Is she?” Rush asked.

 

Young nodded.

 

Rush took a deep breath, closed his eyes and said, “Could you... leave me alone, for a moment, please?”

 

“Yes... Yeah,” Young said, standing up. When he passed by Rush's side, he squeezed Rush's shoulder, then he walked away.

 

Rush let himself cry now. Cry from rage. They were just a few hour away from the planet! Just a little more and they could...! But now... It was all lost. He couldn't believe it. It had been a short dream full of happiness with a bitter end. Amanda... was definitely gone.

 

**

 

Eli was holding Ginn's hand, looking at her. “It's going to be all right, don't worry.”

  
“But, Eli... I'm fading... I can feel it... I... I can't...”

 

Eli's eyes widened when he saw the familiar look disappear from TJ's eyes. The woman looked at him with teary eyes.

 

“I'm sorry, Eli.”

 

Eli looked at TJ. “How..., how can you be so sure!?”

 

“I... I can't... I can't hear her anymore,” TJ answered. Eli stood up and ran towards the door. “Eli!” TJ called back, but the young man didn't look back, he just ran away.

 

**

 

Camile was having an internal talk with Dr. Franklin when she felt it. He was here, and the next second he was gone. She walked towards the Observation Lounge. Right now, she didn't want to be alone. She could mourn for Dr. Franklin and the rest in a better way if she was surrounded by other people.

 

The Lounge was occupied, as she had thought. Varro, Young and Scott were there. They nodded at her as she entered and sat down on one of the couches.

 

“We will arrive in an hour or so, Colonel. The team is gathered and ready. And I there have been some request to go down from part of the civilians. They want to feel the sun.”

 

Young was nodding at Scott's words. “Good work, Lieutenant. Go rest, now. We will gather later in the 'Gat e's r oom.”

 

“Sir.”

 

Camile heard the young man walk away. She looked at Young, who looked back. It had happened to him too. She covered her mouth.  _Nicholas must be devastated_ , she thought.

 

**

 

The 'Gate was open and the team was crossing it. But Rush wasn't in the 'Gate room. He was in the Observation Lounge, glaring at the planet. They were there, but it was too late for them. They would gather provisions and water, they would explore the place where the chair was, but th ere was no r eason for them to look at the containers, right? They were as good as useless. For the umpteenth time he wished they had arrived sooner, faster.

 

He was leaning on the rail, still glaring at the planet when the sound of boots behind him distracted him. Rush looked over his shoulder to see Colonel Young standing a few steps away w ith a bewildered  expression on his face. Rush frowned. He knew that look. Also, Young was holding his hands at the height of his chest, in a way that was...

 

“No...” he whispered, turning around, bemused. “That can't be! How can this be!?”

 

Young looked to his hands, then to Rush. He still wore a surprised face. “I don't know either...” Young murmured.

 

“WOO-HOO!” someone screamed.

 

Young and Rush looked at the door, startled.

 

Eli appeared there, seconds later, with TJ's hand on his. “GUYS! GUYS! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!! GINN IS BACK!!! We are going down right now! RIGHT NOW!”

 

Ginn was laughing, Eli was screaming, and both ran towards the 'Gate Room.

 

Young and Rush looked at each other.

 

“I suppose, then, it's not my imagination,” Young said.

 

“You are back!”

 

“Yes... I'm back,” Young, or more like Mandy, smiled. “Shall we go down too?”

 

Rush smiled. “Of course.”

 

B ut before they could move, Young walked towards Rush, and hugged and kissed him. “Well, Dr. Perry, you will have to share Rush with me, from now on.”

 

Rush grinned.

 

**

 

In a dark room,  _Destiny_ grinned smugly, petting an imaginary, furry mammal that purred. The humans called it 'cat', so she would call it 'cat' too. It all was finally going accordingly to plan. She detected in time when the hosts' consciousness had started to push out of the other's consciousness and she couldn't let that happen, so she had induced them a 'coma' to have free reign over them for a little while, then, she had started to suppress the borrowers' consciousness little by little, so the hosts' wouldn't detect them anymore to give them the necessary time to arrive at the planet. Of course, she wouldn't tell the humans, it might make them afraid of her.

 

After all... having the power to mess up with all of their heads could frightening for her humans.

 

**Author's Note:**

>  **Notes** : Talking with Fragged this crazy idea came, so here it is. About Rush calling the Control Interface Room “Apple Core”... [EuticphicL](http://euticphicl.deviantart.com/art/SGU-The-Apple-Core-173024863) has a fanart that inspired me to write it. Go check it, it's funny. :)


End file.
